Älvsbyn

Julien could not get a signal on his phone last night, but I just got a text from him with an update on what he got up to yesterday.

He started out a little bit later than usual because his clothes were stuck in the campsites washing machine!

Eventually the owner of the campsite managed to fix the machine and Julien set off at about 11.

He cycled towards Lulea on a rough road and was shaken around quite a bit on the way. On the plus side he saw some stunning views on the route.

He stopped in for lunch but couldn’t read the menu so randomly ordered something to eat. He is still not sure what it was but said it tasted ok!

Julien did not particularly like Lulea, he got stuck on a dangerous dual carriageway on the way north to Tore.

The hard shoulder was sometimes only 10cm wide and traffic was passing him by at 70mph!

To avoid this Julien decided to take a much longer back road route which turned into stone / mud tracks. He did an extra 50km as a result.

He got to Tore and found a campsite that had some gorgeous views over the sea.

Julien thinks it was a bit of a mistake to come to the Baltic coast, as the roads are all so busy.

Julien is now heading on to Finland. Here is the Google Map of yesterday’s journey.

You can sponsor Julien on his Just Giving page.

Today was all about getting to Älvsbyn so Julien covered the miles as quickly as possible.

He left Slagnas this morning and was on the road for a while before he saw any other vehicles.

Julien has noticed that the roads are getting significantly quieter as he heads towards Nordkapp.

After cycling for about 94km Julien made it to Arvidsjaur where he stopped for lunch.

He left the town at around 2 and had to contend with more hills and insects as he pushed further on.

To try and avoid the bugs Julien had to maintain a fast speed.

The one time he stopped to change the audio book he was listening to on his Ipod, Julien was surrounded by a swarm on insects – horrible!

So he kept up the fast pace and powered on, arriving at Älvsbyn at around 6.30.

Julien will make it to the Baltic tomorrow and is aiming to camp at either Tore or Kalik. By the following night he hopes to arrive at the Artic Circle.

Here is the Google Map for today.

Please remember that Julien is undertaking his massive journey to support the Child’s i Foundation, a great charity that is aiming to build a home for abandoned babies in Uganda.

You can support the charity and sponsor Julien by visiting his Just Giving page.